


Break So Hard

by scy



Category: Lucifer (Comic)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-01
Updated: 2010-01-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 14:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scy/pseuds/scy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"-Mazikeen may wake and realize what you've done to her." Lucifer, issue # 8</p>
            </blockquote>





	Break So Hard

**Author's Note:**

> In the comics, Mazikeen never wakes up with her new face; her reaction to Lucifer is much more collected than I expect it was when she first discovered what had been done to her. Title from PJ Harvey.

Mazikeen came to consciousness like a visitor, aware that the waking was inevitable, but also with an unfamiliar reluctance to struggle against oblivion's grip on her mind. Her last recollection was of being in the cellar and where she'd fought and killed the male intruder. But then the other Jin En Mok, female, more cunning, had come upon the battleground, and she had been greater than Mazikeen could best in her exhaustion. Her death had been delivered and she had known there was no escape from it, and yet now she still breathed.

"You will find this waking unsettling," Lucifer said. He was near; his warmth was a soft line along her body, and she turned her head toward it, eyes opening to see him on the chair next to his bed, and as her vision cleared, he nodded and waited for her to move independently or declare herself unable.

Mazikeen didn't understand what he meant, but as she recovered her equilibrium, she was aware of a pressure inside her skull. It felt as if she'd had several solid blows inflicted on her, and for some reason not let her flesh move with the blow. When she willed that to happen, the discomfort grew.

"Do you recall what happened?" Lucifer asked.

Mazikeen nodded. "I was-" her voice came out clear, speech intelligible and words enunciated. It was a sound she had never wanted to hear. Furthermore, the muscle and skin of her face didn't stretch or pull tight as let her word fall out as they liked.

"Yes, the Jin En Mok made an attempt to acquire the gate, and you put yourself in their way," Lucifer prompted.

"My lord, what has happened?" Mazikeen asked.

"You did not come through the battle unscathed," Lucifer said.

Mazikeen reached up and as her fingers touched her cheek, she found the skin smooth, soft, and unblemished. No words came after that, nothing civilized from her mouth, the noises were raw, like the rough and damaged face she had lost. She rolled onto her side, hunched around her body, shame hidden from her master.

Lucifer didn't laugh; he knew mourning in all its incarnations and he let her have a measure of time to grieve.

"My face is gone," Mazikeen said when she was aware and ashamed of her position.

"It was repaired by a child who used a power she took into herself without knowing its true asking price," Lucifer said.

"Repaired?"

"The act was done by Jill Presto, the magician's assistant who was chosen by the Basanos made a bargain and they used their agent to act on my property." Lucifer sounded unimpressed, which preceded annoyance, and the deck of fortune would be dealt with at the very second it was fitting.

"The mortal woman," Mazikeen repeated, Jill Presto's face in her memory sharpened and she snarled. "What right had she to do such a thing?"

"The crimes of ignorance are by their nature not easily recognized," Lucifer said. "As fate happens I'm sure you will have the opportunity to express your opinion of her work in a little while."

"Good." Mazikeen clenched her fists and sat up. She had no need to wipe her face; not a single tear had fallen, but her body trembled with the effort of sitting upright and looking Lucifer in the eye.

"Here," Lucifer reached into his jacket and withdrew a hand mirror which he passed to Mazikeen. "It would be best if the damage was assessed immediately, before the mind provides more than reality."

"Of course." She wasn't sure that she was prepared to see what had been done to her, but if Lucifer thought it best, she would go along with his wishes.

What she saw reflected at her was one half of her face reversed and held down to her bone more securely than she had ever done. She poked at her cheeks, forehead, and tugged at the skin, hoping it would lose its resilience and surrender to her will. Such did not happen, and she was left with an image of herself that she didn't know.

"What will I do now?" She looked to Lucifer, and though he did not glance away from her question, she knew there was no easy answer.


End file.
